Audiobook Archives - Savior Gaming

Jurrasic Park (novel)

After being surprised by Jaws (novel) I was really curious how much Spielberg changed for the movie. While I have reviewed the Jurassic Park series and while the movie is pretty much a cultural phenomenon, I’m not going to regurgitate the plot because the general plot is the same. What I’m going to do is basically talk about the differences and while I actually really enjoyed the book for some pretty damn different reasons.

So the book for Jurassic Park, while having a lot of the splendor and wonder of the movie, there is actually a lot of smart ethical questions and corporate evil in the book. In fact, Hammond is actually an eerily evil sociopath that is hell-bent on basically being his own god, no matter who dies in the process. The book never feels preachy about the ethical issues and the science but expertly feels like a grim kind of foreshadowing of how everything goes belly up. Another huge difference is the body count and gore in the book which is definitely past the pg-13 boundary and a lot of characters die in the book that don’t in the movies. The climax is more intense and well, a bit more brutal but also more realistic and fitting. Pretty much the only part of the book I couldn’t stand was Alex, Tim’s now younger sister (in the movie she was the older); she’s annoying and I swear she almost gets her, Timmy, and Grant killed at least half a dozen times in some pretty idiotic ways. Hammond maybe my favorite part of the book, starting as the kindly if not delusional grandpa figure he was in the book to becoming a heartless bastard as the story unfolds. The book is reasonably paced and Crichton had a great way of not talking down to his readers but not dumbing his themes down. In the end, I highly recommend the novel for Jurrasic Park, especially on Audible like I enjoyed it. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Jaws (novel)

The original reason not to go in the water, how many few movies have ever become as legendary as Jaws? Well, like Spielberg’s other book based classics Jurassic Park , Schindler’s List, War of the Worlds, and Ready Player One, Jaws came from a novel as well. If you aren’t familiar, Savior covered Jaws (1975) back when, so I’m going to skip the synopsis and stick to the novel’s content.

Well, let’s start by saying Jaws is a story of many things, and the shark just kinda feels there for most of it. The story mostly focuses on the town of Amity’s struggling finances, Sheriff Brody looking into political corruption and his budding marital issues that becomes a whole other tangent as Ellen Brody sleeps with Matt Hooper…oh and did I mention a shark is killing people? Seriously, if you thought there was a serious lack of shark in the movie, well, the book doesn’t give you much more except for some gory aftermath. While their are some good tense moments towards the end, there are a whole mess of times I unintentionally laughed my ass off or asked WTF aloud much like IT (the novel) . For example, the comical over the top reaction to finding the first victim, Ellen and Hooper’s WTF sexual fantasies, and the cartoonish, sleazy mayor gave me a lot of laughs. Like the movie, Quint is awesome but he doesn’t show up until almost 2/3s of the way through the book. I also have to give the book credit on the serious downer ending. As for pacing, the book is a slow draw; on audiobook I feel it’s more effective because I feel like if I was reading it I would’ve lost myself easy. So I honestly have to say the book is meh overall and I think the movie is a much better story and unless you were a super fan of the movie, the book is pretty skippable. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Alien: Prototype

After a near death encounter with the infamous Xenomorph species along with Amanda Ripley, Zula Hendricks has taken a security lead gig on Jericho 3, a a developing colony. The aliens haunt her nightmares and have taken a toll on her body but her drive to rid the galaxy of the beasts is still ablaze; at least she’s nowhere near Wey-Yu. But the terror never stops for long, a deranged scientist gets his hands on an egg and the experiment kicks off to study the beast, but something’s different; the host was a longtime medical guinea pig infected with the traces of a highly contagious flesh eating disease. What does this mean for the new born Xenomorph? One of the universe’s deadliest monsters has evolved…

Prototype is a actually a pretty good Alien story, despite the stock movie cover which originally put me off. The plague alien ( they call it a Necromorph in the book but I don’t want to compare Alien to DeadSpace ) is actually pretty badass and a really cool idea. Hendricks is a pretty good protagonist dealing with the pressures of being a leader and dealing with new kind of monster. I like that this story is a damn good case of how much devastation 1 Xenomorph can cause. While it’s connected to Isolation and a follow up comic, the book stands pretty well on it’s own. It’s well paced and it doesn’t take long for things to happen. In the end, Alien: Prototype is a fun Alien standalone that adds something new to the dreaded acid blooded monsters and is worth checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

On Writing, a memoir of the craft

So for those who have been keeping up with things on the blog, my first book is debuting through Barnes and Noble’s website as Savior covered in The Flies Inside Pre-order . That being said, I myself enjoy reading books on reading to find truth on how to improve or get a laugh on how full of shit the author is. I’m glad to say On Writing by King is one of the most helpful and insightful I’ve heard. In this book, we get a good look at the legendary writer’s back story as well as some of his personnel tips on the trade. If you have Audible, I highly recommend adding this to your library because it’s pretty cool hearing it straight from the man himself as well as from his son Joe Hill, another good author in his own right. While not my typical content for review, I’ll say it’s well worth a read or listen for good advice and some stories from a legend, especially if you are a writer like myself. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

HORRORSTOR

Haven’t we all found ourselves in the clenches of a soul ravaging dead end job? Amy, like many of us, finds herself deep into a tedious life as a ORSK partner, employee of one of the largest furniture chains in the US. With dreams of a well paying desk job, away from ORSK and her hardass boss Basil, her mom’s trailer, and her roommates she can’t afford to pay. One day Basil pulls her into the office one day, and rather than fire Amy, he makes her a offer: stay with him and another partner overnight to catch a vandal messing with the store before a huge corporate visit. Easy cash, right? It turns out the answer behind the mischief may or not be partners wanting to stage a ghost hunting show, a random homeless dude, or something more sinister from the past.

This is a really strange read in a sense. Being a longtime retail slave I feel Amy’s pain here. The characters are alright and while the story takes awhile to build, the pay off is interesting enough. While the horror and comedy aspects aren’t great, the story is entertaining and familiar because of the retail experience. My favorite part is the beginning of each chapter with a old school ads that go to a dark place as the story continues. While its not for everybody, its a alright read that isn’t too long. In the end, it’s a alright book that’s checking out.

Dreadnaught (Nemesis Book One)

Dreadnought, Nemesis Audio CD (MP3 CD) by April Daniels | 9781543642360 | Booktopia

Danny Tozer is a young man living in a world of super heroes and villains, where powers and destruction are a way of life, but Danny has bigger problems than demigods battling through town: Danny secretly desires to be a girl, the only relief coming from the small things he can hide from his parents. One day, Danny gets caught in the crossfire of of super battle, left with with a dying Dreadnaught, the greatest hero in the world. During a battle against Utopia, Dreadnaught dies passing his powers into the closest person nearby- Danny. Danny is transformed into the body of his dreams, a beautiful young woman with an array of new powers. It’s not long before Dreadnaught’s old teammates try recruiting Dani to take his mantle, but she quickly learns her dream has consequences. Her relationship with her parents worsens as they fight to change her back into a boy against her will, her best friend turns into a perv, and many of the heroes she worshipped turn out to despise her as a female and a trans-woman. With her grey sided friend and partner Calamity, it’s up to Dani to decide her destiny, embrace the real her, and defeat Utopia..

I’d heard about this book and decided to check it out on Audible and I was absolutely addicted to this book. This is a really heartfelt story of a young trans-woman dealing with the prejudice of the world. The book does a great job at balancing the real world issues of a sympathetic character and a pretty interesting super world. While the super stuff isn’t unique it does have cool Easter eggs and is a interesting world. I wish Utopia was a better villain but the twist to her identity is pretty neat towards the end. The final battle is pretty badass and admittedly, besides a lot of feels, Dreadnaught’s declaration at the end was pretty epic. In the end, it was a really good book that genuine and well written and I’d recommend checking it out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Audible review

Audible.com | Unlock a listen for every moment

So if you’ve kept up with the blog for a while, you’ll know I’m a upcoming writer and I love books. Sadly, until I become a legend of the craft like King, Tolkien, or Rowling, I’m stuck working a fulltime job like many fans of the written word. Audible gives me the freedom to dive into more books while living my life and doing me stuff. They have a huge list of books, podcasts, and audio dramas from hundreds of your favorite writers and celebrities. I myself have a subscription through Amazon Prime and with that I started with two credits for free books, gaining a free token every month; best of all you can keep the books you get as well as being able to get free books. My reviews for Alien: Isolation (audiobook) and Alien: Covenant (Audiobook) I experienced for free with my subscription.

First, I want to say this review isn’t sponsored, I’m just a huge. As someone who suffers from anxiety and depression, having a story to focus on helps me cope and get through the rough parts of the day. Whether a curious nerd who wants to compare there favorite shows so there source material or a hardcore reader, this service is well worth checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Alien: Covenant (Audiobook)

Alien: Covenant by Alan Dean Foster | Audiobook | Audible.com

Of all the Alien stories I could have chosen in my dip into audiobooks, I decided to dive into the novelization of Alien: Covenant by Alan Dean Foster, who is a veteran of novelizing the Alien series. I always wanted to know if the Alien series could translate successfully into the written word and I’m happy to say that where I was hugely let down by Alien: Isolation (audiobook) , the audiobook for Covenant soared. Foster not only brought the story to life but fixed a lot of what was wrong with the movie. In my review, I said a huge problem was the lack of character development and the awkward pacing caused by the content crunched into the timeframe. Another bonus of the different medium is having the extra info and characterization explains some of the seemingly dumber moments rational. Foster also knew to touch up some of the dumber moments like the blood sliding and the “questionable” dialogue during the David/ Walter flute scene. The performance is extremely well done and adds a lot of atmosphere to the story and characters. Overall, I really enjoyed the book, more than the movie in fact and I’d recommend checking the book out if the movie let you down. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Alien: Isolation (audiobook)

So if you’ve been following us for awhile, you’ll know how much of a Alien fan I am. My first dip into Audible was Alien: River of Pain (audio drama) and while it was a fun experience, as a writer I was curious how a novel would read. I chose the novelization of Isolation, curious how the terrifying game translated into literature. For a brief synopsis, check out my review of Alien: Isolation because this is strictly on the book experience. So did it live up to the game?

I’m sorry to say the game excels at being a gem of claustrophobic sci-fi horror while the book spends too much time on side plots and putting too much emphasis on Amanda Ripley’s abandonment issues and sulking nature on her life without Ripley. While I had no issue finding out about Amanda’s drunken step dad, her mom thwarting a mutiny at her last job, or the succession of bullshit and deception Amanda had to go through before that meeting Samuels, I did take issue with how much the book lingers on this and how little I feel was put into the actual story from the game. A few times I felt promise of the game’s terror but it’s either wiped away by a overly long flashback or Amanda starts an internal pity party instead of being truly scared as she was in the game. Also. I didn’t much threat from the Alien but more so the Working Joes. Another vital thing that bothered me was how every chapter ended with a audio log or transcript from the game that were frequently jarring at times. In the end, I just say play the game for a more intense, fulfilling Alien experience. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Alien: River of Pain (audio drama)

So this is a first for Saviorgaming as this is the first time I’m reviewing a audio drama via Audible, which is a pretty awesome service. I do plan on reviewing them in the near future so tune in for that. For my first full Audible experience, of course I’d pick a story from the Alien universe.

River of Pain runs in tandem with Aliens , following the downfall of the colony Hadley’s Hope as well as introducing us to Newt before we meet her in Aliens. Following Ripley’s disappearance and her encounter with the creature from LV-426, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation renamed the planet Acheron and began terraforming the planet with it’s flagship colony, Hadley’s Hope. The Colonial Marines offer protection and order for the civilians but there is friction between there new head, Brackett, and the science division of Wey-Yu. The company’s influence is strong. The Jordan family, surveyors, get an opportunity from the company to discover the last undiscovered area of the planet, and the crashed derelict the crew of the Nostromo had found decades before…

As far as a Alien story goes, River of Pain is pretty fitting and is a nice prologue to Aliens. I have to say I’m impressed and loved the movie grade sound effects; the voice acting is really fitting and well done and after the first chapter it was easy to get into. While there is some retread from the movie, it doesn’t feel like padding and thankfully most of the material is fresh. The complaints I have are small like the title “River of Pain” is pretty pointless and starting the story with Newt’s birth was just weird. In the end, if you love the Alien series, this is a cool experience I’d recommend checking out. May the gaming gods bring you glory.